49 Aviation safety
| (31765)
—
—
| Report on the actions undertaken in the context of the impact of the volcanic ash cloud crisis on the air transport industry
|
| Legal base | —
|
| Deposited in Parliament | 5 July 2010
|
| Department | Transport
|
| Basis of consideration | EM of 19 July 2010
|
| Previous Committee Report | None
|
| Discussion in Council | 24 June 2010
|
| Committee's assessment | Politically important
|
| Committee's decision | Cleared
|
Background
49.1 At an extraordinary session of the Transport Council on 4
May 2010 Ministers agreed on a joint EU response to the volcanic
ash cloud crisis and invited the Commission to present a report
on the EU response to the consequences of the ash cloud on air
transport.[193]
The document
49.2 The Commission presented the report, this document, to the
Transport Council on 24 June 2010[194]
and it was subsequently deposited in Parliament by the Government.[195]
In the report the Commission provides an overview of the technical
work that has been taking place at national, EU and the global
level to increase the understanding of safe flying in areas affected
by ash and to examine how the rules and guidance might be improved.
It says that in the field of air traffic management action has
been taken to clarify procedures for flights in areas affected
by ash, to improve coordination between Member States and to prepare
for a crisis. This includes:
- establishing three levels of predicted ash concentration;
- interim guidance in the absence of binding limits;
- creation of the European Aviation Crisis Co-ordination
Cell to ensure better coordination; and
- nomination of a Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs,
which are airspace blocks that cross national borders and are
designed to improve integration and operation of air navigation
services) System Coordinator and accelerated implementation of
FABs.
49.3 The Commission identifies a number of continuing
activities, which include:
- developing an EU methodology
for risk assessment and risk management in cooperation with Eurocontrol[196]
and Member States;
- definition by relevant safety authorities of
binding limit values at EU level for the impact of ash concentration
on engines;
- preparation, for the International Civil Aviation
Organisation General Assembly in September 2010, of a coordinated
draft EU position on methodological tools for risk assessment
and management in case of volcanic eruptions;
- accelerating implementation of the Single European
Sky;[197]
- appointment of a network manager to improve the
coordinated use of European airspace;
- adoption of the Single European Sky performance
scheme;
- accelerating implementation of the European Aviation
Safety Agency's new competencies for air traffic management;
- adoption of the SESAR (Single European Sky Air
Traffic Management Research) deployment strategy;[198]
- evaluation of the Denied Boarding and Cancellation
Regulation and of lessons learned during the crisis — the
Commission plans a Communication on implementation and possible
review of the Regulation in the autumn;
- assessment of potential shortcomings in cooperation
between Member States and different modes of transport in emergency
situations — the Commission will prepare a report on short
and medium term improvements towards a pan-EU mobility action
plan, to be presented in the autumn; and
- setting up an "Aviation Platform" gathering
all aviation stakeholders at EU level.
49.4 In the report the Commission also says that
it:
- has established that the ash
disruption should not affect the fixing of the overall cap on
emissions under the EU Emissions Trading System, although it may
affect the distribution between operators;
- has met airport slot coordinators from across
the EU and agreed that cancellations due to ash will not count
against the "use it or lose it" rule, under which airlines
must hand back slots that they fail to use for more than 80% of
the time;
- has not, in relation to potential financial assistance
provided by Member States, received any state aid notifications;
- has concluded that there is no appropriate EU
source of funding to compensate the aviation industry for its
losses due to the volcanic ash disruption;
- has started to consult Member States on the problems
encountered when other modes of transport had to take the strain
during the disruption to aviation and will look at what contingency
measures are needed to facilitate repatriation and re-routing
of passengers and freight; and
- will continue to monitor the situation and will
keep the Council and the European Parliament informed.
The Government's view
49.5 The Minister of State, Department for Transport
(Mrs Theresa Villiers) says that the Government welcomes the coordinated
EU action presented in the Commission's report, as it considers
a joint approach to be the most effective way to manage a response
to the volcanic ash cloud crisis. She continues that the Government:
- supports the Commission's initiatives
to improve safety risk analysis and management, to develop binding
limit values and to improve coordination through the creation
of the European Aviation Crisis Co-ordination Cell;
- has continued, since the time of the first eruption,
to undertake considerable work at national and international levels
with the Met Office (in its role as Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre),
the airlines, manufacturers, and regulators;
- is ensuring that this work feeds into EU and
international discussions;
- looks forward to contributing to a coordinated
EU position in preparation for the International Civil Aviation
Organisation General Assembly in September 2010; and
- supports a number of the ongoing initiatives
identified by the Commission — designation of a network
manager, establishing an Aviation Platform, consideration of a
potential pan-EU mobility action plan and implementation of European
Aviation Safety Agency's air traffic management responsibilities.
49.6 In more detailed comments the Minister says
that:
- aircraft and engine manufacturers
must continue to establish what level of ash their products can
safely tolerate and the Government and the Civil Aviation Authority
continue to work with the industry to facilitate this work;
- the tolerance level for continuous flying in
areas affected by ash has been increased once already and work
is continuing with the manufacturers of aircraft and engines to
see what further steps can be taken;
- the no-fly zone is under constant review, based
on scientifically reliable data available to the Civil Aviation
Authority, from industry, other regulatory and Government agencies;
- NATS (the UK's air navigation service provider),
in collaboration with the Civil Aviation Authority and UK operators,
is developing the feasibility of a revised safety risk management
approach with the potential to provide operators with the capability
to assess whether and where it would be safe to fly in low ash
concentration contaminated airspace;
- until such time as any revised safety risk assessment
methods are developed, the existing zonal procedures (no-fly —
black, time-limited — grey and enhanced procedures —
red) to protect flight safety remain;
- the Met Office is trying to arrange a permanent
airborne testing capability;
- to this end, tenders are being evaluated for
the provision of a new test aircraft to be at permanent readiness
to assist in the work of the Met Office — the expectation
is that this aircraft will be operational in the autumn;
- the Government notes, on the issue of financial
compensation, that to date no Member State has made a formal request
for state aid clearance to the Commission nor have any draft proposals
been presented to it;
- the Government understands that governments across
the EU may have some sympathy for the position of the industry,
but face considerable pressures in public finances that make support
difficult — the UK is no different in that respect;
- the Government acknowledges the Commission's
conclusion that there is no appropriate EU source of funding for
compensation;
- the Government is actively engaged in a number
of the ongoing air traffic management initiatives identified in
the report and it is generally supportive of the Commission's
continued work on these programmes;
- in relation to the Commission's suggested accelerated
implementation of the Single European Sky, the Government will
continue to work with other Member States and the Commission to
make progress on this wide-ranging programme involving complex
regulatory and technical issues;
- in relation of the Denied Boarding and Cancellation
Regulation, the Government, which supports the Regulation, has
asked that, as part of any review, the Commission look specifically
at payments of compensation in relation to flight delays in light
of the ruling of the Court of Justice that passengers whose flights
are delayed by three hours or more may be entitled to compensation
from the airline, unless the delay is caused by extraordinary
circumstances;[199]
- the Commission says that the volcanic ash disruption
will have no effect on the emissions cap under the EU Emissions
Trading System, because the cap is set based on average emissions
in 2004-06 rather than 2010;
- although it accepts that the reduced activity
could in principle affect the distribution of free allowances
between aircraft operators the Commission considers that the relative
distributional impacts are likely to be small;
- if all aircraft operators covered by the system
had been equally affected by the airspace closure this would be
the case, however the Government is aware of evidence suggesting
that those airlines flying to the airspace most affected by the
disruption performed less tonne-kilometre activity in April 2010
than they would have normally;
- they will, therefore, receive a smaller share
of the free allowances than they would have otherwise, and operators
operating primarily in areas least affected by disruption will
consequently receive a larger share of free allowances than they
would have otherwise;
- the Government understands that this is fundamentally
a matter for the Commission and that there is currently no provision
in the legislation for modifying tonne-kilometre data or the benchmarking
process;
- the Government, however, supports efforts by
the Commission to collect data in order to establish the extent
and distribution of any distortion and encourages it to consider
how the differentiated impact of the ash disruption on aircraft
operators could be taken into account in the benchmarking process;
- in relation to airport slots not used as a consequence
of the restrictions not counting towards the 80% "use it
or lose it" rule, the UK coordinator is interpreting this
to include services cancelled in the immediate aftermath of the
closures; and
- the Government considers this approach appropriate
— it should ensure that airlines do not lose slots as a
consequence of the airspace restrictions.
Conclusion
49.7 Whilst clearing this document we draw it
to the attention of the House as a useful summary of EU actions
to mitigate the consequences of volcanic ash for the aviation
sector and its customers.
193 See http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/10/st09/st09280.en10.pdf.
Back
194
See http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/trans/115487.pdf.
Back
195
Deposited in accordance with paragraph 1 (vi) of Standing Order
143. Back
196
The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation: see
http://www.eurocontrol.int/corporate/public/standard_page/lp_about_us.html.
Back
197
See http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air/single_european_sky/single_european_sky_en.htm.
Back
198
SESAR is the research element of the Single European Sky package
under which future air traffic management systems are being developed. Back
199
The ruling was in relation to the case of in the case of Christopher
Sturgeon, Gabriel Sturgeon and Alana Sturgeon v Condor Flugdienst
GmbH (C-402/07) and Stefan Böck and Cornelia Lepuschitz v
Air France SA (C-432/07). Back
|
